World War I created many problems for Russia and the Tsar. In the 1917 Russian Revolution he abdicated (gave up being Tsar) in March of that year.[1] He and his family were held as prisoners under house arrest. On July 17, 1918, Nicholas, his wife, and their children were killed by a firing squad. In 1981, the Tsar and his family were made Saints by the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1990, the bones of the Tsar and his family were found in the woods and given a proper burial in 1998.[2]